Kulinarya Cooking Club April 2011 : Champorado (Filipino Chocolate Rice Pudding)

Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and it's colourful cuisine.  Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes.  By sharing these recipes we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino food as we do.

This month's theme is Decadence.

For me, anything other than toast or cereal for breakfast is decadent.  Firstly, I eat breakfast quickly in between getting both children fed and ready for the day. Secondly, if I do eat, it's pretty boring. I eat just enough to get me through to lunchtime.

To have Champorado for breakfast is very decadent for me.  Not only it's because it's more than the usual dull cereal but because it's chocolate.  Chocolate for breakfast, I recommend it. 

Champorado is usually eaten for breakfast in Philippines.  It's usually accompanied by fried tuyo (salted dried fish).  It's stinky but lovely. I opted not to include in my breakfast.  It really does stink out the house when you cook it therefore I am forbidden to cook it indoors.  The only option was to cook it outside but I wasn't brave enough to face the cold.

1/2 cup glutinous rice

5 cups water

5 tbs white sugar

2 tsp cocoa powder

50g dark chocolate, chopped

evaporated milk

1.  In a pot, add the glutinous rice and water.  Boil till the rice is tender and most of the water has been soaked up by the rice.

2.  Combine the sugar ad cocoa powder in a small bowl then add to the rice.  Stir to combine.

3.  Add the dark chocolate.

4.  Stir and leave on gentle bubble till the chocolate has melted and it has thickened.

5.  Serve with a drizzle of evaporated milk on top.

NB:  If you want it sweeter, simply sprinkle more sugar on top

You can check out what the other members of the Kulinarya club made for this month's theme here.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

Cook Book Challenge : Chocolate Meringue Roll

Theme 6 : Celebration

Cookbook : Australian Women's Weekly.  Cook

Recipe : Meringue roll

I love this cookbook.  It has nearly everything in it and I want to cook nearly everything in it.  It's my "go to" book when I can't find a recipe in my other cook books.

For the Celebration theme, I wanted to make something for my sister in law's birthday.  She was having a little family gathering and since she had just given birth to my beautiful nephew a couple weeks ago, family were bringing dishes to contribute to the party.

I decided to make a Chocolate meringue roll.  I changed the recipe a little because I wanted to include the last of my kalamansi that I harvested from my tree.

The recipe was just plain vanilla meringue but I added cocoa powder and sprinkled flaked almonds to add a crunch so the dessert is not all one texture. The filling was vanilla cream and kalamansi curd. I used the left over curd to fill my Easter chocolate creme egg cupcakes.  I have made the kalamansi curd so many times and I prefer it to lemon.  It has a little sweetness to it that the kalamansi has though the curd is still quite tart.

4 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs of extra caster sugar
1/2 cup thickened cream, whipped
50g flaked almonds
kalamansi curd.  (you can get the recipe here)

1.  Preheat the oven to 200degC (180degC fanforced).  Grease and line a swiss roll pan (26cm x 323cm)
2.  Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating until the sugar dissolves between each addition. Sift the cocoa powder into the egg whites and gently fold in.
3.  Spread the mixture into the baking pan, and sprinkle the flaked almonds evenly.
4.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until browned lightly.
5.  Turn meringue onto baking paper, that has been sprinkled with the extra caster sugar.  Gently peel away the lining paper and let stand for 2 minutes.
6.  Spread the whipped cream onto the cake leaving about 2-3cm along the edge.  Spread the kalamansi curd on top.
7.  Using the baking paper as support, roll the meringue firmly from the long side.  Transfer carefully onto serving dish.
8.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

You can see my previous posts for this years CookBook Challenge here.

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Strawberry Ice cream Sandwich

This is my first time to join the Pinoy Foodista Cooking Challenge.  I am happy to join this group of fine Filipino Foodies.  You can find more about them here.  Please click here and vote for my sandwich.

This month's challenge is "Strawberries in a sandwich".  I have to credit my sister-in-law with this one.  She suggested doing an ice cream sandwich.  I ran with that idea and made a Strawberry meringue ice cream in a Triple chocolate cookie sandwich.

I don't have an ice cream maker so I had to find a easy ice cream recipe that I can make.  I found this recipe while watching a children's cooking show.  Yep, that's right.  The best thing about this recipe is that it's very simple and children can help you make it. 

I got Deanna to help me.  She loves cooking and as soon as I told her what I was going to make, she put on her apron straight away.

Strawberry Meringue Ice cream

250ml double cream

4 heaped dessert spoons natural yoghurt

4 level dessert spoons icing sugar

12 large strawberries, hulled and smashed with the back of a fork

2 meringue nest

1. whisk the cream in the bowl, until it’s light and fluffy. 

2.  Add the yoghurt and icing sugar to the cream and whisk it more.

3.  Place the strawberries in the mixture.

4.  Hold a meringue nest over the bowl and crush it in your hand and then drop it into the mixture and give it a gentle stir.

5.  Pour the mixture into the lidded container and put it in the freezer for at least two hours or preferably overnight.

Take out of the freezer about 30 minutes before sandwiching in the cookies to soften a little.

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

125g unsalted butter, softened.

1 1/4 cups tightly packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tbs cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

3/4 cups dark chocolate chips

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180degC.  Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy.  Add vanilla and egg and stir to combine.  Stir in the sifted flour, cocoa powder baking powder and salt until just combined.  Fold through the  rocky road.

Place spoonfuls of cookie mixture on a lined baking tray, allowing room for spreading.  Cook for 15-20 minutes, until they turn pale gold.

Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before placing biscuits on a wire rack to cool further.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

Chocolate and Nutella Thumbprint Cookies for World Nutella Day

World Nutella Day is held on February 5th and was the brain child of Sara, and Michelle .  The idea behind World Nutella Day is to celebrate and get creative with Nutella. You can follow them on twitter or become a fan on facebook.

My family loves Nutella, especially simply on toast for Breakfast.   My contribution is Chocolate and Nutella Thumbprint Cookies.  This is yummy.  The cookie is chewy and soft and the drop of nutella on top is a perfect match.

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg, separated

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1.  In a bowl add the butter, sugar, egg yolk, milk and vanilla and mix til light and fluffy.

2.  Sift the flour, cocoa and salt in a separate bowl then gradually add to creamed mixture,stir to combine.

3.  Cover and place in the refrigerator one hour, or until firm enough to shape into balls.

4.  Take 1 tablespoon of the mixture and shape into balls

5.  Using your thumb (or back of a 1/4 tsp) make an indentation in center of of each cookie. 

6.  Bake at 160degC for 10 to 12 minutes, or until center is just set.

7.  Let the cookies cool before filling them

Makes 24 cookies

 Fill the centers with Nutella.

 

I also made some peanut butter ones.

 There are many other fillings you can use but I think Nutella is the best one.

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Chocolate Mug Cake with Salted Dulce de Leche. An International Incident

Here we are again at another International Incident Party, always happily hosted by Penny of Jeroxie blog.  This month's theme is Salt.  Salt is so versatile.  It can be used in savoury as well as sweet dishes.  Since salt is an everyday ingredient found in all dishes, it can easily be overlooked as a main ingredient so I'm happy to see that salt is featured as this month's theme.  I'm looking forward to read other party goers take on the theme.

For this theme, I've decided to make salted dulce de leche.  I know that salt goes well with caramel so why not with dulce de leche? I've always made my own dulce de leche as it's very easy and satisfying.  When you do make your own, please do be careful and always keep your eyes on it.  There can be certain disasters when left unchecked. (i.e explosions in the kitchen!).  As it keeps for months, I make it in bulk and keep it in the pantry ready for use anytime.

I loved the combination of the chocolate cake, sweet dulce de leche and the sea salt.  It definitely made a difference to the flavour and also the texture of the dish.

To make the dulce de leche, you can get the recipe here.  This has to be made the day before as it takes at least 3 hours to make and has to be totally cooled before using.

Make the 5 minute Chocolate Mug Cake:

4 tbl  flour

4 tbl sugar

2 tbl cocoa

1 egg

3 tbl milk

3 tbl oil

vanilla extract

1.  Add the dry ingredients to large mug and mix well.

2.  Add the egg and mix thoroughly

3.  Pour in milk and oil and mix well

4.  Add the vanilla extract

5.  Cook for 3 minutes in the microwave (1000watts)

Once the cake is cooled, carefully remove from the mug and cut into 3 slices.  On top of each layer, spread a little of the dulce de leched and add a sprinkle of sea salt.  Lay each slice on top of each other.

Other people enjoying the salt party.  Will you join us for the next party?

Deanna is in the kitchen and she's making chocolate stars

I love having Deanna in the kitchen and she loves being in the kitchen.  She is so much fun.  She is full of questions and enthusiasm.  Deanna loves cooking and baking and she already has a few of her own cook books.   I definitely have a budding cook on my hands.  You can find one of our creations here.

This recipe great for children.  It's easy and there isn't really any measurements. Deanna was able to make this all by herself with my supervision.

Get a block of chocolate and break into small squares.  We used Green and Black 70%

Cut out stars of ready made puff pastry sheets.

Place a square of chocolate in the middle of each star and brush the sides with beaten egg.

Place another star on top and seal the edges.

Brush the top with beaten egg.

Bake in  preheated oven 180deg for 10 minutes

Sprinkle with icing sugar.  

Halloween Cupcakes

This is the first year I have actually made anything for Halloween.  My 4 year old got really excited about Halloween for the first time this year.  Even though Halloween isn't big here in Australia yet, children are starting to get into the holiday.  Deanna dressed up as witch tonight when we went over to my parents place for our weekly Sunday night dinner. 

So here it is, my Halloween cupcakes.  It's chocolate cupcakes with body parts and marshmallow ghosts.  It was Deanna's idea to make these, so she helped me decorate them.

• 100g good quality dark cooking chocolate, chopped
• 100ml milk
• 30g (1/4 cup) cocoa powder, sifted
• 100g butter, at room temperature, cubed
• 115g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour, sifted
• * Chocolate glaze *
• 210g (1 1/3 cups) pure icing sugar
• 2 tbs cocoa powder
• 2 tbs boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 180c. Line 12 medium (80ml / 1/3cup) muffin pans with large paper cases or use non-stick muffin pans.
2. Place the chocolate, milk and cocoa in a medium heavy-based saucepan. Whisk constantly over low heat for 3-4 minutes or until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside until the mixture is lukewarm.
3. Meanwhile, use electric beaters to beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition until well combined.
4. Add the chocolate mixture to the butter mixture and mix well. Use a metal spoon to fold in the flour, in 2 batches, until well combined.
5. Half fill each muffin pan with the mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centres of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the pans.
6. Meanwhile, to make the chocolate glaze, sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a medium heatproof bowl or the top of a double saucepan. Add the water and mix to a firm paste. Place over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water) and stir for 2-3 minutes or until warm and runny.
7. Remove the cakes from the pans and use a small pallet knife to spread the warm glaze over the top of each. Set aside for 15minutes for the glaze to set before serving.
8. Decorate with gummy body parts and marshmallow ghosts.

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Happy Easter 2010!

This year, Easter was quite a hectic long weekend.  I had so many plans of baking and cooking up a storm but unfortunately, time got the better of me and didn't end up doing anything I had planned.

Good Friday was spent at my Mother-in-laws for lunch.  Gourmet fish and chips was on the menu.  It was light and delicious.

The children had their annual Easter Egg Hunt in my Mother-in-law's backyard

Thomas found one though he is still too young for chocolate

Deanna managed to find a basket full.

It has lately been tradition to spend the evening of Good Friday at the Botanical Gardens with my family.  However, my brother, @MrEd2U and family spent the long weekend at Rosebud.  So we took my parents out to Williamstown for a walk and dinner.

Deanna on her scooter

Thomas loved being on the swing

We had dinner at Williamstown Mussels.  My brother raves about this place  so we wanted to try it out for ourselves.  When we got there, there was only one person in front of us and we were told the wait will be 15 minutes.  I thought the wait wasn't too bad.  After ordering, the queue became a lot longer.  In fact, it was out the door.  I bet the wait would have been at least 30 minutes at that point.  My verdict?  We enjoyed the fisherman's basket and Hubby enjoyed his "Porky Burger"  The fish was fresh and the batter was light and crispy.

Easter Sunday was spent at Fawkner Park in South Yarra, celebrating our Nando's store's 3rd Birthday.  We also celebrated a great year in 2009 where our store is ranked 3rd in Victoria.  The staff that attended were treated to tasty make-your-own sandwiches and a Black Forest Birthday Cake.  Entertainment came in the form of one of the staff playing his guitar and another staff singing, making words up as he went along.  It was quite entertaining.

After lunch, we played a game of soccer.  We were so tired after that so we decided to just take it easy  the rest of the afternoon.  

On Easter Monday, we took the children to the Royal Botanical Gardens Melbourne where Guilfoyle's Volcano was opened  to the public.  It was originally built in 1876 and stored water for use in the Botanical Gardens but has been closed for  60 years.

As you can see, the long weekend was full of activity.  I vow to bake and cook up the storm that I wanted to, next year... hopefully.

Chickie Eggs inspried by JustJennRecipes.com

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

2010 Eating Your Words Challenge :

I love food challenges so when I first heard about this challenge from one of the organisers, @TangledNoodle, I was indeed intrigued. I was very much interested in joining but had no idea on what to do.

Savor the Thyme and Tangled Noodle have organised "Eating your Words" Challenge, where you have to write, spell or draw using food or drink.  Then blog about it.  They even managed to recruit a very famous foodie and TV personality as a judge.  Andrew Zimmern. 

For a whole month, I agonised about what to do.  I even asked for advice from a number of people.  I thought about it so much I actually dreamt that I met Andrew Zimmern!

So, this is what I have come up with.

Eat your words

This was a very simple project but then factor in having only one day to bake, create, photograph and blog while having a 7 month old and a 3 year old both craving for my attention.  I didn't think I was able to complete it on time...  but here it is.

I chose my favourite fudgey chocolate cake recipe and chocolate icing.

I cut out the letters and used as a template to cut out the cake

I found this project challenging and I'm glad that I found the time to join in.  Looking forward to next year's challenge.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie